Group Director Of Operations & Strategy

This is a critical leadership role at the heart of a leading human services and government contract provider, where you will enjoy close working relationships with senior executives, external commissionaires across central and local government, employer stakeholders, and key strategic partners. You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation, agreeing and delivering business plans, providing strong leadership to the secretariat and wider teams, ensuring appropriate governance arrangements are in place and operating effectively, and having full oversight on group performance across contracts both contractually and financially, working with the C-suite, particularly the CFO, to ensure this.

You will need to lead, motivate, and task leaders of the group to take ownership of their performance. Given this, the role requires senior oversight and working knowledge and experience across human services organisations that work in public sector contracting, including justice, education, welfare, health, and other related areas.

Key Responsibilities of the Post Holder Will Include:

• Guiding the organisation through a period of change and transition in terms of its corporate governance and organisational structures.
• Setting the strategic direction of the organisation and helping to shape and embed new governance arrangements.
• Financial oversight of contract and group performance in line with budgets and targets.
• Providing leadership and process advice to ensure the day-to-day delivery of the organisation’s functions.
• Leading and managing a team of senior level leaders, including six direct reports.
• Developing the strategy and communications plan to ensure the organisation is an influential and independent voice in discussions about central and local government outsourced contracts.
• Enhancing the organisation’s use of data and information systems to support and justify decisions, including those relating to the compliance regime.
• Making effective and timely decisions on business cases from external and internal stakeholders requesting approval to use exceptions to recruitment principles.
• Making effective and timely decisions on complaints and appeals in respect of adherence to contractual responsibility and/or concerns raised under relevant codes, where appropriate.
• Personally developing and maintaining effective relationships with key senior stakeholders who we work with across the public and private sectors.
• Managing a budget and ensuring financial controls and regulations are adhered to.
• Providing leadership and management to deliver overall organisation success and drive a culture and value set that embraces inclusivity and aims to be a top business to work for.
• Demonstrating leadership behaviours to bring out the best in your team, encouraging and supporting their development, and maintaining a constructive working environment, even in fast-paced and challenging times.

Person Specification

It is important, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the following essential criteria:

• You are an experienced leader able to operate effectively independently and make decisions, including setting priorities, in a role that has significant autonomy.
• You are able to operate in a context of significant uncertainty and change, providing clear leadership to those in the organisation, and maintaining the confidence of senior executives, external commissionaires across central and local government, employer stakeholders, and key strategic partners.
• You demonstrate adaptability and flexibility, as well as a high level of emotional intelligence, to navigate the different and changing requirements of the relationship with the various organisations you are responsible for.
• You are able to utilise data insights to support your organisation in developing evidence-based policy.
• You have a good understanding of what being a C-suite leader means, and demonstrable experience of operating within a regulatory environment.
• You can develop, build, and maintain effective relationships and networks with a range of very senior stakeholders while making finely balanced judgements on priorities and resource allocation.
• You have excellent all-round communication and stakeholder management skills.

Behavior’s

We will assess you against these behavior’s during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving

This position is ideal for someone with a strong background in human services and public sector contracting, looking to leverage their expertise in a high-autonomy, high-responsibility environment. An opportunity to lead a talented team, foster a culture of inclusivity, and contribute to significant, meaningful work with real societal impact. This role not only promises professional growth but also the satisfaction of making a tangible difference for the clients it serves.